Faith in Jesus Christ is our response to God's elective purpose in our life. These two truths–God's initiative and man's response–co-exist throughout the Bible. The gospel is "the message of truth" because truth is its predominant characteristic. Salvation was conceived by the God of truth (Ps. 31:5); purchased by the Son, who is the truth (John 14:6); and is applied by the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). To know it is to know the truth that sets men free (John 8:32). Believers are people of the truth (John 18:37), who worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and who obey the Word of truth (John 17:17). People have rejected, neglected, redefined, and opposed God’s truth for centuries. Some cynically deny that truth even exists or that it can be known by men (John 18:38). Others foolishly think that denying truth will somehow make it go away. Truth determines the validity of one's belief. Believing a lie doesn't make it true. Conversely, failing to believe the truth doesn't make it a lie. The gospel is true because Jesus is true, not simply because Christians believe in Him. His resurrection proved the truth of His claims and constitutes the objective basis of our faith (Rom. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:3). Truth is our protection and strength (Eph. 6:14). Throughout history, people have tried everything imaginable to gain favor with God. Most turn to religion, but religion apart from Christ is merely a satanic counterfeit of the truth. At the heart of every false religion is the notion that man can come to God by any means he chooses–by meditating, doing good deeds, and so on. But Scripture says, "There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). That name is Jesus Christ, and we come to Him by confessing and repenting of our sin, trusting in His atoning death on the cross, and affirming His bodily resurrection from the grave (cf. Rom. 10:9-10). There is no other way to God. False religious leaders and teachers talk much about God’s love, but not His wrath and holiness; much about how deprived of good things people are, but not about their depravity; much about God’s universal fatherhood toward everyone, but not much about his unique fatherhood toward all who believe in His Son; much about what God wants to give to us, but nothing about the necessity of obedience to Him; much about health and happiness, but nothing about holiness and sacrifice. Their message is full of gaps, the greatest of which leaves out a biblical worldview of the saving gospel and replaces it with the worldview of postmodernism with its dominant ethical system of relativism. The Bible describes mankind in the end times: “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Spiritual answers cannot be deduced by human reason alone (1 Cor. 2:14). It’s not that spiritual truth is irrational or illogical, but that human wisdom is defective, because it’s tainted by man’s sinfulness, and unable to perceive the things of God. That is why the Bible is so important. It gives us the answers we can’t find on our own. It is God’s Word to mankind. Scripture is divinely revealed truth that fills the vacuum of spiritual ignorance in all of us. Post-truth is the word of the year for 2016 and also the philosophy of the day, According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. In a “post-truth” world, people make choices based on emotion and experience rather than objective fact. So in a post-truth world, truth is irrelevant. What exactly is a post-truth culture? It’s a culture where truth is no longer an objective reality. It has become subjective. It’s what’s true for me—my beliefs, my opinions, determine my truth. So in our post-truth culture, man determines truth. Man makes himself the ultimate authority. This starting point, which rejects God’s Word and the idea of moral absolutes, makes truth subjective. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Christianity is grounded in objective truth. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Objective truth exists because we have God’s Word. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Thy word is truth” (John 17:17), and Paul and James describe the Bible as “the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:18). The Psalmist says, “The entirety of your word is truth” (Psalm 119:160). Jesus Himself said, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). When Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6), He wasn’t expressing His personal belief or opinion. He was speaking the truth, a fundamental reality that doesn’t change from person to person. It doesn’t matter if our culture thinks all roads lead to God. The truth of the matter is “no one comes to the Father but by [Jesus].” This blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell

What is spiritual warfare?

Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12 that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Paul says “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Paul is referring to Satan (Hebrew: The Adversary) and the fallen angels with him. Satan is referred to as the devil, “the dragon,” “the old serpent” (Revelation 12:9; 20:2); “the prince of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30); “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2); “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians. 4:4); “the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2); and “Beelzebub, the prince of the devils” (Matthew 12:24).

He is the constant enemy of God, of Christ, of the divine kingdom, of the followers of Christ, and of all truth. He is full of falsehood and all malice. His power is very great in the world. He is like a “roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Men are said to be “taken captive by him” (2 Timothy 2:26). Christians are warned against his “devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11), and called on to “resist” him (James 4:7).

Demons are referred to as spiritual beings (Matthew 8:16; 10:1; 12:43-45) who are against God, and they have a certain power over man (James 2:19; Revelation 16:14). They recognize our Lord as the Son of God (Matthew 8:20; Luke 4:41). They belong to those angels who “kept not their first estate who are called “unclean spirits,” “fallen angels,” the angels of the devil (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:7-9). They are the “principalities and powers” against which we must “wrestle” (Ephesians 6:12).

Now that we know the enemy, how do we prepare for and engage in the spiritual battle? Paul, in Ephesians 6:10-18, compares a believer to a Roman soldier. Through this passage we learn how to prepare for and engage the enemy.

Paul reminds us that we will find our strength in the Lord, not ourselves. Our objective is to resist and stand firm against the devil’s schemes (who uses lies, deception and temptation to corrupt and destroy) and not to retreat. Satan attacks believers, trying to destroy their faith and trust in God, thereby rendering them ineffective for the battle.

We are to put on and truly believe in the “belt of truth” which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The belt of “truth” holds our spiritual weapons. Putting on the “breastplate of righteousness” signifies the daily practice of right-ness or living a holy life free from guilt and shame through the blood of the cross. This protects our heart and soul just like a breastplate.

Our feet should be “fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” We need be ready to share wherever we go the Gospel of Peace which is Christ Jesus who establishes peace between us and God (Isaiah 52:7) and who will protect us (Acts 18:9). Sharing the message of Christ advances God’s army against the enemy’s position.

Putting on the shield (which protects the whole body) of faith is completely trusting in God, who is unseen, to protect us from the seen and unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18; 5:7; Colossians 2:6,7; Hebrews 11). Putting on the “helmet of salvation” is the protecting of our mind through the study of and mediation on God’s Word (Romans 12:2).

We are to take up the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” This sword is the Bible whose contents are revealed to us through the Holy Spirit. God’s Word is powerful (Hebrews 4:12) and more than able to protect us. And we are to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

To be successful in spiritual warfare, we must be in God’s Word and in prayer, especially praying for other believers who are also in the battle. We must keep our eyes on Jesus who is ruler over all things (Ephesians 1:18-23; Hebrews 12:1-3).

Spend time meditating on these passages seeking to learn, trust and rely more on Jesus Christ who will equip you for every good work (Hebrews 13:20,21).